We all love our fronts, especially here in the suburbs. Box houses line up row after row with shiny cars in the garage and crystal clean pools in the backyards. It looks idyllic. But is it? Amidst the fronts, there are people suffering with a variety of ailments, whether it is spiritual darkness, financial burden, or maybe a bodily disease. All is not well, despite the green lawns. No, those tall wooden fences are there for a reason -- so you cannot see inside, cannot see the hurts, cannot see the pain.
I don't live in one of those box houses. Maybe you do. My house is actually a 20-foot by 31-foot cabin hidden from the road amidst the trees. It's old and worn down but it's home. However, I can tell you from personal experience that my house also contains a person who has suffered. It's common to all. Fronts and all.
The lament psalms were written from the hearts of people who were suffering, whether physical illness like David in Psalm 34 or spiritual illness like Psalm 51 or emotional sickness like Asaph in Psalm 73 or Korah in Psalm 42. But churches tend away from teaching about laments, about suffering, about the reality of life as we await the final coming of the King. Here's my first offering in the category of lament songs.
O Lord, why do I have to suffer?
To be subject to so much pain
Like Job my woes keep on mounting
What is there to gain?
My strength like wax it is melting
My bones they ache from the strain
O Lord, please forgive my doubting
But what is there to gain?
Come and rescue me
From my misery
Maker of heaven and earth
Creator of every soul
Rise up and look on your servant
Mend my wounds and make me whole
My prayers have become such a burden
I don’t know how to explain
I know you know of my troubles
I know you know of my pain
Come and rescue me
From my misery
Maker of heaven and earth
Creator of every soul
Rise up and look on your servant
Mend my wounds and make me whole
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